Dem Rep Praises Rand Paul: ‘Shouldn’t Be a Partisan Difference in Upholding 4th Amendment’

Appearing on MSNBC to react to President Barack Obama speech defending the National Security Agency but laying out some reforms to its bulk data collection practices, Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) said he was “disappointed” in the circumspect reforms the president recommended. He agreed with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) who insisted that the NSA’s programs represent a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

Holt said that he was “disappointed” in the president’s defense of the NSA and said he believed it was “high time” that the 46 recommendations a five-person panel Obama commissioned to reform the NSA be implemented.

RELATED: Rand Paul: Obama Basically Said ‘If You Like Your Privacy, You Can Keep It’

MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin observed that Holt’s position aligned with that of Paul’s and read a statement from the Kentucky senator critiquing Obama.

“There shouldn’t be a partisan difference in upholding the Fourth Amendment of our Constitution,” Holt responded. “Because you know, that serves to keep the government from treating people as suspects.”

“The way it is today with the NSA, they are treating people as suspects first and citizens second,” he concluded.

Watch the clip below via MSNBC:

[Photo via scree grab ]

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